OEP 2016 Changed to 11/1/2015 to 1/31/2016

[somarco]

Please tell me you are including a waiver if there was a prior coverage in this thought???

It depends on whether you want health insurance rates to become affordable or not.

A six month wait on pre-ex, regardless of prior coverage, will allow rates to drop significantly.

Waiving pre-ex for prior coverage does very little for existing rates.

 

[Ann H]

That's true for new business. But wouldn't that cause a problem with aging pools where the sick remain on their prior plan, and the healthy move to a new plan because they can handle the 6 month pre-ex clause?

 

[somarco]

Group plans used to impose a p-x waiting period on new enrollees unless you had prior coverage. The ability to waive p-x is part of the reason for group rates being higher than IFP.

Of course those days no longer exist and now it is often the reverse where group (before employer subsidy) are lower than IFP.

The thought behind reinstating p-x was to bring about some semblance of affordable health insurance. Of course that will never happen no matter how much people scream about Obamacrack.

And changing plans (with or without p-x changes) will offer limited options before too long. Those who are ticked off about their Blue renewal can go to the other carrier (whoever that is) and then back to Blue a year later.

Reminds me of the Henry Ford line. You can have any color car you want as long as it is black.

Soon health insurance will be "You can have any plan you want as long as its' Blue"

 

[kgmom219]

It depends on whether you want health insurance rates to become affordable or not.

A six month wait on pre-ex, regardless of prior coverage, will allow rates to drop significantly.

Waiving pre-ex for prior coverage does very little for existing rates.

And we go back 30 years when people couldn't leave their jobs in fear of losing their health insurance.

Pass.

I would rather see the elimination of copays to control costs. Some personal responsibility before running to the doctor with a runny nose.

 

[somarco]

Well, you must have missed ........

COBRA (1986), risk pools, carriers of last resort, etc.

Prior to Obamacrack, Dave Fluker had over 500 clients on assigned risk plans.

The hype of the Obama election was just that. Most people have always been able to get health insurance.

Doesn't matter anyway. When Blue controls 90% of the market and stops paying commissions choices will be even slimmer.

 

[kgmom219]

Well, you must have missed ........

COBRA (1986), risk pools, carriers of last resort, etc.

Prior to Obamacrack, Dave Fluker had over 500 clients on assigned risk plans.

The hype of the Obama election was just that. Most people have always been able to get health insurance.

Doesn't matter anyway. When Blue controls 90% of the market and stops paying commissions choices will be even slimmer.

1. Not every state had a risk pool and most people couldn't afford it anyway
2. Companies under 20 don't have COBRA. And if you are lucky enough to live in a state with a "cobra hybrid", most states werent 18 months
3. When disabled, but not social security eligible, 18 months is crap
4. Maybe people in Georgia are just healthier than Texans. I averaged 2 people a week, pre ACA, that couldn't get coverage and the high risk pool would have put them on food stamps.

You've been doing this a long time. You really think "most people" could get indy coverage? We were still declining people for prozac usage, ever, until 2009. And indy plans never covered mental health. Which includes a nation of kids on Ritalin.

 

[G.Gordon]

And we go back 30 years when people couldn't leave their jobs in fear of losing their health insurance.

Pass.

I would rather see the elimination of copays to control costs. Some personal responsibility before running to the doctor with a runny nose.

No we don't. Similar proposals have it that if you are leaving coverage such as employer plans you have no pre'x and GI'd plans. Same result as waiting for AEP for those already enrolled, no pre'x and GI.

 

[kgmom219]

G.....read his response.

 

[somarco]

Repeating myself, it won't matter when BX has 90% if the market.

And FWIW, the new Obamacrack plan designs with "free" benefits and copay's has a lot of OOP for all but the Platinum plans which are almost disappearing. Eliminating copay's won't help with the new plan designs and rating constraints.

The days of truly affordable coverage are gone.

Declining for prozac? Must have been a TX thang. I had clients on prozac that were able to get coverage. Also had a record of getting coverage for people who had been previously declined. Some of us know how to work the system.

 

[kgmom219]

Repeating myself, it won't matter when BX has 90% if the market.

And FWIW, the new Obamacrack plan designs with "free" benefits and copay's has a lot of OOP for all but the Platinum plans which are almost disappearing. Eliminating copay's won't help with the new plan designs and rating constraints.

The days of truly affordable coverage are gone.

Declining for prozac? Must have been a TX thang. I had clients on prozac that were able to get coverage. Also had a record of getting coverage for people who had been previously declined. Some of us know how to work the system.

Let's all bow down to King Somarco.......